Product Description

The world of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was inhabited by denizens of the street and night life of fin-de-siecle Paris - with its dance halls, bars, brothels and circuses. Portraying this world in his paintings, drawings , posters and prints, Lautrec created a vibrant body of art that earned him lasting renown. Lautrec was born in 1864 into one of the oldest noble families in France. At the age of 13 it was discovered that he suffered from a genetic defect that prevented the bones in his legs from continuing to grow. Small in stature and singular in appearance, Lautrec lived his life with a passionate intensity, choosing to dwell among the Bohemian and exotic characters he depicted in his canvases. He died at the age of 37 after excessive drinking had severely debilitated and finally destroyed him. During his short career, however, he not only painted, drew, and designed posters, but also worked with stained glass and bookbindings. The essays in this book discuss the full range of Lautrec's career and artistic activities - from his youthful sketchbooks and examples of applied art to the seminal pictures and posters at the end of his life. The essays also focus on the cultural milieu and social history of the period, analyzing the marketplace in which Lautec worked, the implications of his exhibitions and his association with other artists, designers and literary figures. The book is the catalogue for an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London from October 10, 1991 to January 19, 1992 and at the Grand Palais in Paris from February 18 to June 1992.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5652659 in Books
• Published on: 1991-12-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Review
...late author and noted art critic Federico Zeri's engaging verve and expertise are cast easily within even a novice's grasp... -- Karen A. Wyckoff, ForeWord Magazine, October 2000

Parents wishing to instruct teen-agers about the world's great art works will find this series extremely useful -- Elisabeth Sherwin, The Davis (Calif.) Enterprise, March 4, 2001

The series offers a welcome update to older volumes... -- Sarah Raymond, Professionally Speaking: The Magazine of the Ontario College of Teachers, December 2000

This truly outstanding series, a bargain at $14.95 per book, deserves a place in any private, public, or school library -- Kimberly Hundley, Today's Librarian, November 2000

Language Notes
Text: English, German (translation)

About the Author
Federico Zeri, an eminent art historian and critic, was vice president of the National Council for Cultural and Environmental Treasures and was decorated with the Legion of Honor by the French Government. He passed away in 1998.

Customer Reviews

a crippled genius
Toulouse-Lautrec is my favorite artist. He has always fascinated me the most, both his life and his work. He had one or two accidents as a child where his legs were broken and they stopped growing. As a result, he became a dwarf. This must have created a deep-seated inferiority complex in him that caused him, consciously or unconsciously, to draw unflattering caricatures of his contemporaries. But the drawing style was completely original and his own. He soon became famous for his lithographs or posters depicting entertainers at the Moulin Rouge, etc. He was highly productive but always a heavy drinker and inexhaustible party animal. In fact, it was his frequenting of brothels and romantic friendships with prostitutes that eventually did him in. He caught syphilis, a deadly 19th century venereal disease for which there was no cure in those days. However, he left behind some of the most unique Impressionist paintings of Parisian night-life ever painted.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"